Warning: Undefined variable $num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 126
Warning: Undefined variable $posts_num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 127
Prior to this assignment I had not read any part of the “Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels. Consequently, I had no preconceived notions or bias associated with the viewpoint of Marx, as a man or political entity. With that being said, I am also well aware that the people of China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea and Vietnam currently live under communist regimes. This reading has provided me with insight into the basic principles of the authoritative nature that govern communist rule, of which I was previously unaware. As a citizen of a democratic nation I have lived my life without much empathy for the difficulties associated with living under communist rule, but that has changed after this reading. The basic premise for the formation of the Communist party seemed honorable (in theory) to me; providing for and meeting the needs of working class people (Marx and Engels). I agree with my classmate @ erodriguez317 that the ideas of Marx seem (at first glance) to reflect a desired equality among the people. After the assigned reading I still did not feel like I had a good understanding of Marxism or Communism so I also read “Demands of the Communist Party in Germany” also written by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels. My previous view of the social unification power of Communism quickly eroded as I read the totality of their plan for society. Communism effectively eliminated individuality (religion, thought, desire or purpose) and replaced it with the “god” of government or the state. How is that beneficial for a society? Freedom of speech, freedom of thought, freedom of religious beliefs and the freedom to live life as you see fit are removed from the lives of individuals under communist authoritative rule. The advent of technology that replaced many craft trades may have seemed overwhelming at that time because it was new, but that fact that communism remains is arcane to me in my limited understanding of political rule.
